OBIT

05.04.12

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch Dies

Thomas Rabsch / AP Photo

Beastie Boy rapper Adam Yauch, 47, died Friday morning after fighting cancer for nearly three years, TMZ reports. Yauch, a.k.a. MCA, announced in July 2009 that he was being treated for cancer in his parotid gland and a lymph node, and had since undergone surgery and radiation. Yauch started the Beastie Boys in 1979 with Mike D, Mix Master Mike, and Ad Roc, and the band has won multiple Grammy awards over the years. The most recent sign that Yauch’s health was failing was his missing the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on April 14.